John Bellows (1622-1682)
}} Research Notes English Ancestry Although positive proof is wanting, yet this view seems almost certainly correct, as otherwise no further trace is found of the boy, who must have wholly disappeared, if he was not identical with John, the progenitor. One would gladly know who were his parents, where was his home in England, and what induced him at that early age, and perhaps without friends, to emigrate to the new world. But on these points nothing is known, and thus far all attempts to answer these questions have failed. The identity of name with that of John Bellows, the Quaker printer, publisher and philanthropist, of Gloucester, England, points to a common ancestry. Immigration to Concord The town of Concord, MA, was settled in 1635 and as late as 1655 was a small settlement of about fifty families. John Bellows first appears as a resident there in 1645. Marriage to Mary Wood The next trace is found in the record of his marriage. The records of Concord show that "John Bellows and Mary Wood were married the 9th of May, 1655." Mary Wood is said to have been the daughter of John Wood, who died in Marlborough, July 10, 1678, aged 68, and Mary Wood, who died in Marlborough, August 17 1690, aged 80. They were probably of Concord and later of Marlborough, which was settled in 1660. The will of John Wood, proved March 8, 1678, mentions his son-in-law, John Bellows. John and Mary Bellows appear to have resided in Concord until after the birth of their third child, Abigail, which occurred in Concord, May 6th, 1661. Marlborough Co-Founder In 1660, the same spirit of enterprise which had brought him to this country and led him to settle in the frontier town of Concord induced him to become one of the original proprietors of the new town of Marlborough MA. Hudson's "History of Marlborough" places him there in 1660. Perhaps his wife remained for a time in Concord. If so, she soon followed him to Marlborough, and the records of that town show the births of five children, from Isaac, born Sept. 13, 1663, to Nathaniel, born April 15, 1676. 1676 Indian Raids The birth of Nathaniel is also recorded in Concord, April 3, 1676. On Sunday, March 20, 1676, while the people were gathered in church, the town of Marlborough was attacked by the Indians. The inhabitants escaped in safety to the fort, but the meeting house and nearly all the dwellings were burned, cattle killed, and everything of value destroyed. John Bellows and his wife doubtless witnessed these exciting events and shared in the general loss. The settlement was deserted for a year and they returned to Concord, where their two youngest children Nathaniel and Benjamin, were born, and their eighth child, Daniel, died at the age of three years. The year 1680 found them once more in Marlborough where their remaining years were spent and where their three sons, John, Isaac and Eleazer, were born and were blessed with numerous children. The Will of John Bellows John Bellows died in Marlborough, MA, sometime between June 19 and August 6, 1683, as his will, which is recorded in Middlesex Probate Records, Lib. vi, vol. 93, is dated June 19, 1683, and was proved October 2, 1683. The inventory of his estate was taken August 6 and 8, 1683. He appointed Mary, his "loving wife", sole executrix, and left her a maintenance from his estate so long as she remained his widow. The inventory shows that he posessed a farm in Marlborough, consisting of "the Home-lot with all ye out-lands, both Uplands and Meadows, and Cedar-swamp pertaining to the home-lot, together with the dwelling house and Orchard thereon," valued at £60, as well as horses, oxen and cows, and a good assortment of farming and carpenter's tools. The only reminder of the Indian Wars is the item of "One Back-sword, and two barrels of guns, ye swords 12s., the barrels 8s." The death of his widow, Mary Bellows, is recorded in Marlborough, Sept 16, 1707. John Bellows is supposed to have united the callings of farmer and carpenter. It is evident, at least, that he was one of those hardy pioneers who settled the frontier towns of Middlesex and Worcester counties, and reared large families of children to hold what they had won from the wilderness and the Indians; and that his grandson Benjamin was working out the family destiny when in his turn he took his family of young children and settled on the extreme northern frontier, where the town of Walpole, NH, was yet to be. Nearly all the branches of the descendants of the five sons of John Bellows (Isaac, John, Eleazer, Nathaniel, Benjamin), who became heads of families, have been more or less fully traced down to 1898, and in many instances, to the present time. http://www.ourfamilyhistories.org/getperson.php?personID=I1927&tree=00 This narrative has errors in it, Benjamin was John's grandson not son - church records prove this and subsequent research that has taken place over the last 30-40 yrs has come to the conclusion Benjamin was the son of their eldest daughter Mary Bellow Smallbent Rood. Marriage & Family The records of Concord show that "John Bellows and Mary Wood were married the 9th of May, 1655." Mary Wood is said to have been the daughter of John Wood, who died in Marlborough, July 10, 1678, aged 68, The first three children were born in Concord MA, the rest in Marlborough, with the exception of Nathaniel, who was born in Concord MA, to where the family fled the indian raids in the prior month. # Mary Bellows (1657-1738) # Samuel Bellows (1658-1680) References * John Bellows 1622 List of Famous Descendants